Analogue Reveal Fourth Delay of Its N64 Console, The 3D
- Analogue 3D delayed a fourth time, now set for Q4 2025.
- Customers outraged over vague updates and broken promises.
- History of delays fuels distrust in the company.
Analogue has surprised no one by announcing the fourth delay of 3D, a modern N64 console built on FPGA. The 3D started taking pre-orders in October 2024, but missed release windows in March, July, and now August this year.
The company posted a statement on X, as well as its official site, but it hasn’t done much to assuage fears that there’s something wrong behind the scenes. If customers were simply angry about postponements before, they’re absolutely livid now, with most people taking to Analogue’s X account to voice their concerns and annoyance.
“It’s kind of insane that you charged us last October, confident that it’d ship in Q1 of this year and now we’re at Q4,” said user nicksterwixster. “That’s not like ‘oh we had this unexpected little bump in the road’, it feels like the first date was never even remotely realistic to begin with.”
Jump to:
The Future is Not Here Yet
Analogue introduced the 3D on Oct. 16, 2024, as being the best multiplayer system of all time. Built on an FPGA core, the 3D has been engineered to replicate the Nintendo 64, but not emulate it. In short, it’s all-new hardware that mimics that older console as closely as possible.
Analogue’s previous delay was believed to be a way for the company to avoid a possible Nintendo lawsuit, given that it’s not shy in referencing the original N64 in marketing. However, Analogue blamed tariff charges. But, this time the reason is being left vague, in a weirdly-phrased statement some customers believe to be AI-generated:
“Analogue has been moving at maximum pace, processing shipping to everyone who has been patiently waiting,” the company posted on its site and X. “Unexpected, uncommon issues are rare. Especially in a negligible degree under esoteric circumstances. We’re ensuring every detail meets our standard.”
“Nonetheless, we know this sucks. Another delay, announced late, after months of patience. We feel it too. Analogue3D has been in development for 4 years, obsessively. It’s at 99%. Hardware, system, packaging – the full kit – (has) been set for months. The last 1% is where we’re focused.”
“This has moved our shipping date to Q4 – intentionally set conservatively. We’re pushing without pause and appreciate everyone’s patience and trust. Analogue will always deliver – delays or not, it’s a commitment to our standard of care.”
History Repeating
Not only is the fourth delay of the 3D, but it’s not even the first time Analogue has been tardy with releasing a product; its Pocket Handheld was available for pre-orders in August 2020, but release was set back from later that year to October, and then delayed again to May 2021.
However, this was then set back to December 2021, with the company blaming Covid restrictions for the extensive delay. The Pocket did finally see release on Dec. 13, with multiple variations since made available, including different colors and an aluminium body.
This bad habit of massive delays becoming a hallmark of the company has not inspired confidence in customers. Still, it also raises the question of why people would trust Analogue when the company has a proven track record of massive delays.
“Your communication this entire time has been terrible,” said X user Courageous_Egg. “You need to keep people updated more frequently rather than posting random Gameboy gameplay on Twitter, you have not even explained *why* you have kept delaying the release! I have honestly lost trust in this company.”
“Announcement written by an LLM or someone just reeeally wanting to use the phrasing they learned in the MBA,” added RazielPrime. “Guys, you haven’t even shown so much as a screenshot or video of this thing we’ve paid for in action. Does it even actually exist yet?”
Kev97191022 summed up everyone’s anger in a far more colorful manner: “You’re disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourselves, saying you’re only 1% away. Stop lying to us. The console doesn’t work at all. It’s all just vision and concept art. I’m canceling my order. Fuck off Analogue.”
or
